Latjor Wuon Lat Dak is a resilient South Sudanese youth leader, refugee advocate, and award-winning changemaker committed to advancing sustainable development and catalyzing grassroots movements through education, policy advocacy, and intergenerational leadership. His bold mission is to empower the next generation of transformative leaders to dismantle cycles of poverty, conflict, and illiteracy, and to drive the socio-economic and political regeneration of South Sudan.

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Raised amid the devastation of civil war, Latjor endured a decade of displacement, experiencing firsthand the systemic barriers that confront marginalized youth. These hardships forged his determination to design systems of hope, mobilize grassroots movements, and create pathways for young people to become architects of their own futures and leaders of systemic transformation.

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Confronted with South Sudan’s education crisis — marked by over 70 percent illiteracy and a lack of proactive leadership — Latjor founded the South Sudan Youth Leadership Scholars Network Program (SSYLNET). The youth-led nonprofit provides underprivileged youth with access to education, leadership development, career pathways, global opportunities, and policy advocacy for systemic reform. Under his leadership, SSYLNET has empowered more than 500 underserved youth, mentored over 100 refugees and internally displaced persons to secure undergraduate scholarships in leading African universities, scaled a primary school educating over 500 children, reintegrated more than 100 marginalized girls into high school, and piloted AI-driven teacher training. The organization is now developing the Refugee Nexus Hub, a centralized resource center in displacement camps that integrates education, libraries, digital access, vocational training, and entrepreneurship programs to enhance livelihoods and employability.

 

Latjor is a final-year student at the African Leadership University in Rwanda, pursuing a Bachelor of Science with honors in Software Engineering, with a specialization in education. His leadership journey spans summits, conferences, and fellowships across Africa, Asia, and Europe, including YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa, the Swiss–Africa Exchange Program, ALforEducation, MCN–UNAI, YouthConnekt Africa Hub, and the Aspire Leaders Institute. As a young SDG 4 innovator grounded in community-led solutions, he was recognized by Suas Educational Development in Ireland and the African Leadership University as a changemaker advancing education reform. He is also a recipient of the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship, the Community Giving-Back Impact Award from the Baobab Platform, and has been named among Unity State Bentiu’s Top 100 Influential Youth.

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With more than four years of professional experience in nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, Latjor has mentored and coached over 500 young people, equipping them with leadership and career development skills through initiatives such as Africa Career Networks and UNICEF’s Youth on the Move program under the Migration Youth and Children Platform.

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For his Mountaintop Fellowship, Latjor is leading the project “Breaking Educational Barriers: A Path to Hope for South Sudan’s Underprivileged.” The initiative promotes civic leadership, career skills, and access to education for youth in displacement camps. Through mentorship, intergenerational leadership capacity building, and policy advocacy, it seeks to prepare thousands of young people to become ethical leaders and active agents of peace and development.

Grounded in his Anglican faith, Latjor leads with empathy, resilience, and a deep commitment to justice. His work reflects the conviction that education and leadership are the cornerstones of peacebuilding and sustainable development, and his vision is to raise a generation of leaders who will transform South Sudan into a nation of hope and opportunity.

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